Latest In Cereal Grain Research To Be Presented At AACC International Meeting

St. Paul, MN - Cereal grain scientists, quality regulators, and representatives from related food industries will gather October 5–8, 2014, for the AACC International (AACCI) Annual Meeting at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The comprehensive scientific program and exhibition will feature the work of food scientists, chemists, microbiologists, nutritionists, and those interested in product development, quality control, and food production management. To date, 1,000 attendees have registered for the meeting, hailing from 37 countries. The detailed 2014 AACCI Annual Meeting agenda is online today.

New this year is a series of sessions focused on milling and baking. Speakers from Pizza Hut, Kansas State University, Panera, General Mills, Tufts University and Cargill—to name a few—will be grouped into three categories: Baking Market Trends, Regulatory Influences on Baking Performance, and Technology for the Baker. According to Derek Stewart, The James Hutton Institute in Scotland and a 2014 Technical Program Planning Committee member, "The AACCI 2014 annual meeting has a phenomenal breadth and depth of science centered on cereals. The meeting is unrivaled in its scope, meaning that fundamental, strategic, applied and full-on industrial science sit side-by-side, thereby ensuring that both academia and industry can work together, deliver solutions to broad and targeted problems whilst future-proofing the sector." A prime example of this inclusive approach is the symposium titled Gut Microbiota, the New Frontier—The Role of Cereal Grains and Fiber. "This session will offer new insights into future frontiers in health and how cereal grains might play a role," says co-moderator Satya Jonnalagadda, Director of Nutrition at Kerry. "Speakers will not only include well-respected cereal grain scientists, but also a practicing physician and research gastroenterologist from the University of Pittsburgh."

Additional scientific symposia will cover such diverse topics as:

• DON in Cereals–Keys to Successful Global Management
• a fresh look at yeast functionality in leavened cereal dough systems
• current and future potential of sprouted grains as healthy ingredients
• enzymes in cereal-based food products
• quest for world’s protein needs— chemistry and food applications of cereal & legume proteins
• emerging genetic methods in cereal grain quality improvement

Forward-thinking science dominates the annual meeting, both in traditional lecture settings, through hundreds of poster presentations and in small-group discussions. "The AACCI annual meeting gives a genuine opportunity for cross-boundary discussions to lift applied science," says Andreas Blennow, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and 2014 AACCI Annual Meeting Technical Program Planning Committee member. "Within the starch and biotechnology areas, the 2014 meeting will cover today’s and tomorrow’s genetic technologies, aiming to solve urgent challenges in providing safe grain with special qualities. The so-called ‘genome-editing’ based technology is regarded as a promising approach for generating completely novel cereal grain qualities."

In the Exhibit Hall, 100 companies will be on hand to discuss and demonstrate new products, services and solutions. The AACCI meeting also offers three Supplier Innovation sessions that allow companies to showcase new, innovative products and services to interested meeting attendees in an exclusive setting.

AACCI will continue to build momentum for its 2015 Centennial year by recognizing the breakthroughs and major milestones from 1966 to 2014 and then prompting attendees to focus on the future by identifying trends, terminology and contributors that will lead the society into the next 100 years. The society will also be introducing an auto-renew membership program under the slogan "Get EnGRAINed in AACCI for a lifetime." The 2015 AACCI Centennial Meeting will be held October 18-21, 2015, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AACCI is accepting submissions for symposium and workshop proposals for the 2015 meeting now through November 4, 2014. The call for papers will take place from March 1-April 15, 2015.